Ink jet printers eject ink onto a print medium, such as paper, in controlled patterns of closely spaced dots. Two commonly used inks are aqueous ink and phase change or hot melt ink. Phase change ink has a liquid phase when it is above the melting temperature, for example 86.degree. C., and a solid phase when it is at or below the melting temperature.
Phase change ink is conveniently stored, transported, and inserted into an ink jet printer assembly in solid phase. However, for phase change ink to be properly ejected from a print head, the ink must be in the liquid phase and relatively hot. Because it typically takes a few minutes for phase change ink to melt after heat has been applied to it, there must be a supply of melted ink having the proper temperature for the print head to eject. There is, therefore, a need for a method and an apparatus for melting and storing phase change ink and providing the ink to a print head at the proper temperature.